Knowing the rules - and the game

The great Bill Shankly, Liverpool manager of the '60s and '70s, once said that the trouble with referees is that they know the rules, but they do not know the game.
In today's world of politics, officialdom and red-tape, the comment is one that seems to ring more true off the field than on it.

Take the rule makers in sports organizations, for example. Be it committees or boards full of directors, they make the rules and ensure that these rules are kept or amended when the time calls for it. Indeed, they usually do a very good job of it. In fact, you could say they know the rules very well. But how well do they know "the game?"

One of the most popular discussions the soccer people of southern Indiana had with me when I arrived here last year involved the "six player rule." This is where a club team cannot comprise six players from the same high school team. So, for example, Southern Indiana United's U16s cannot not field seven players from, say, New Albany High School.

It was introduced by the IHSAA, I am told, to prevent a club from monopolizing talent from a particular high school. This could happen in larger, more populated areas like Indianapolis, where top teams could hog the top talent.

So it was introduced with good intentions, you could say. The problem is, however, that it is having an adverse affect on Southern Indiana United, just a hop over the river from a state whose teams do not have to contend with such a rule.
Southern Indiana United U17 coach DJ Barksdale said the rule has had a knock-on effect on his team for three years now.

"Since my guys are juniors, this six player rule has affected me." he said. "The past two years, it was New Albany and Providence filling six spots each. I've had to make several difficult decisions regarding how to choose the fifth or sixth roster spots for these schools. Many times, the result is a weaker team from top to bottom than if the rule were not in place.

"Perhaps the intent is there, but the rule is ineffective. Kentucky does not have this rule and I've not seen any consequences from their clubs that make me think Indiana's rule is justified or rational."
And looking to the future, U14 coach Mike Vejar said it will affect him in the Spring of 2010.

"At the moment, I have six - possibly seven - hitting Floyd Central in the Fall of 2008 and seven hitting Jeff High in the Fall of 2008-2009," he said.
However, there seems to be no desire to change the rule - not even to make some areas affected adversely by it an exception.

IHSAA assistant commissioner Theresia Wynns said the six-player rule is in place to prevent teams from playing year round.

"There is the same kind of limitation for every team sport," she said. "There is no movement to make a change so every school and its student-athletes are required to abide by this rule or suffer the consequences. Every principal whose school is a member of IHSAA has the right to submit a proposal for change."

Now, just a second. Does that not sound like the IHSAA has given itself permission to decide what people do in the world of soccer, or indeed the world of sport?

To me, it smacks of superiorism, where the IHSAA is of the opinion that it is "Mr Big Cheese," so to speak. It might be in the worlds of football, basketball and baseball, and the likes - there are scribes featured in these pages with vastly more knowledge in those great American sports to pass comment on that - but if you want to see a better standard of youth soccer, I suggest you go to a club game. Or visit the regional and national club championships in the spring.

In fact, in most parts of the world, more importance is put on youth club - not high school - soccer. As a result, it is hard for me to fathom why clubs actually allow high school authorities tell them what they can and cannot do - especially when many high school coaches are also involved in club set-ups.

But that’s another story for another day. Today, the six player rule is affecting the game here and needs to be amended. And all it may take is for someone who knows the rules to also know the game.